The Rough Guide to First-Time Around The World by Doug Lansky

Author:Doug Lansky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rough Guides
Published: 2013-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Traveler cafés

You can’t miss them. They’re filled with travelers, plus the ubiquitous banana pancakes, mango milkshakes and toasted cheese sandwiches served to the beat of a Van Morrison song. These oases for the Western palate are what keep many travelers sane. They also keep many travelers from venturing into more interesting dining and drinking establishments.

Personal hygiene

Staying clean on the road is a challenge at times. The times it becomes particularly rough are during the back-to-back long-transit rides (an overnight bus ride followed by a long plane trip); walking in hot, humid cities; and when you’re not feeling well. If you can’t handle the toilets, that can be a problem too. Either way, relief can be found.

Airport wash stations

Many airports now have showers available for a fee (sometimes ridiculously high, but still worth it depending on your travel grime factor). Some have a sauna and gym as well. You may have to hunt around a little, as they’re not as well situated as the duty-free items and postcard vendors. Even if you have to put your yet-unwashed clothes back on, a refreshing shower ($1–5/£0.6–3) can be an enormous boost. And you probably have some spare coins to get rid of anyway. If you don’t take the opportunity during a long haul, the smell is only going to get worse. The budget route, of course, is simply to wash in the restroom, perhaps with a paper-towel shower, and swing by the duty free and take a squirt of perfume before the next leg of your journey.

The bus “shower”

On nicer bus rides, particularly around Turkey and the Middle East, don’t be surprised if an attendant comes by and offers you a splash of unisex perfume or some fragranced towelettes. They’re not as nice as the warm flannels distributed by many airlines, particularly considering they have the olfactory properties of toilet-bowl cleaner, but it’s still better than having nuclear BO. Individually wrapped moist tissues function better since they also remove the dirt and odour rather than simply masking it. Bring some of your own just in case.

Turkish bath – the marathon sweat

A perfect remedy for travel grime – the accumulated film that covers your body after weeks with low-pressure showers. These medieval bath houses are mild steamrooms with washbasins, sometimes a hot pool and a steamier section. Most offer – for an additional fee – a joint-cracking, back-popping, skin-blasting “massage” that will leave you feeling like a boneless chicken. On exiting, you can cool down wrapped in towels with a refreshing yoghurt drink.

Japanese bath – boil yourself clean

No trip to Japan is really complete without a dip at a “sento” or its outdoor cousin, the “onsen.” These public baths are sometimes as elegantly crafted as temples – or as commercial-looking as shopping malls. They offer scalding water, some with herbal mixes or stimulating electric shocks. It’s as cultural as it is therapeutic, relatively inexpensive (the outdoor ones are often free) and will keep you clean in a country that practically demands it.

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